


Pink Universe

by bluedot522



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Existential Crisis, Gen, Homeworld (Steven Universe), Not Pink Diamond Theory, Steven Universe AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11256111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedot522/pseuds/bluedot522
Summary: Steven Universe, the son of Pink Diamond and the human Greg Universe, discovers something new about himself and his mother's intent in creating him through the conversations he has with his father and various gems. AU, completely canon-divergent, on an alternate timeline as well. (Not the Rose = Pink Diamond Theory)





	Pink Universe

“Come here, Pearl,” a voice spoke. The aforementioned Pearl lifted her pointed nose to the attention of her superior. A star-shaped mane of hair framed her pink face, her clothes were adorned with flowing frills. A hand stretched down, large enough to destroy her form, yet it opened gently, and the Pearl stepped into the ruler’s fingers, arms tucked behind her back in a dignified fashion. The Diamond then brought her hand up to her other shoulder, which the Pearl lifted herself on to and took a seat. The ruler tapped her fingers idly on the armrest of the white throne. The cold, bare surface of the moon lay in her vision, a half-shadowed dot of blue surrounded by stars resting above it, unobstructed by screens of progress or the interruptions of her subjects.

“It is only a matter of time.” The voice felt disconnected, as if she was not the one to say it, yet her lips moved.

Her vision became fuzzy soon after, the voices of others fading into existence, the dark reaches of space suddenly blurred into the brazen hues of Homeworld. The Diamond could not see anything past the three basic colors of white, blue, and yellow apparent in her vision, the voices on top of one another clouding her mind until it was nearly unbearable.

“The Earth was meant for you as your first achievement! The first you would ever conquer as a Diamond!” cried a bold voice, “We preserved it for you, yet you have squandered your simplest chance!”

“It is your colony!” cried another, “Your subjects look up to you!”

“You are no better than the traitorous Rose Quartz!”

 “Steven!”

“A Diamond cannot have flaws and cannot have weakness!”

“Steven!”

The colors suddenly rushed together as if warping through space, the voices muddling until indistinguishable, then all faded into nothing.

“Wh-wha-? Dad?” mumbled a voice. Bleary eyes stared into a dark canopy of green and a young boy with a mane of dark hair rolled to the side and landed face-first into a tropical plant.

“Eugh!” he complained, feeling the wet drops tickle his nose, then sat up, wiping it on his bare arm and brushing a bit of foliage off of his indigo-colored top.

He heard a familiar chuckle behind him at this that could’ve only been Greg Universe and the boy turned himself around to face his father, a pale, bearded man with his hair in a long braid who was sitting only a small distance away from him on the tropical forest floor beside a soft-looking bush.

“Woah, there Schtu-ball! Your dream looked like it was getting a little intense there, so thought I’d wake you up a little early,” Greg explained, “They haven’t even clicked on the day yet!”

“Aw, why do I have to get that one every complete Homeworld rotation cycle?”

“It’s called a _month_ , Steven, in Earth terms. Is it that one with the walking, talking trees that always scares you?”

“No,” Steven replied, his gaze shifting uncomfortably to the ground, “It was about mom. I was her. And everyone kept hating me in it for some reason.”

Greg suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable, and went silent, his gaze finding interest in a nearby tree sapling, and sighed. “Gee, I don’t really know. It could be some gem thing, of course, or else it could just be your mind going somewhere when you least expect it. So what’s up with that, huh?”

“I don’t know Dad. Dreams are usually either really silly, really scary, or just kind of strange. Or even a combination, maybe, like silly-strange, or scary-strange. But I don’t think it was any of those. It was more real. Like a memory, or something.”

“Hmm,” Greg pondered, “Well, it could have something to do with your mom, I guess. I’m not gonna rule out that it’s some weird gem power thing, but I don’t think you should worry about it too much. It’s just a dream, honestly, and nothing from it is gonna stem out into reality and bite you.”

“Well, the Diamonds exist and I know they don’t like me very much,” Steven argued, poking in the dirt with a short twig he found.

“People are a little afraid of the things they don’t understand, Steven, and I’m pretty sure as big, powerful alien ladies who’ve worked under the same kind of order for thousands of years or whatever, they’re a little full of themselves and a little closed off from anything different. Different like the way you are.” 

Steven smiled slightly at this and abandoned the twig, seemingly satisfied for a few moments, but then his eyes widened with a question. “But how was mom any different though? She was made to be exactly like the rest of them.”

“That’s a pretty good question. And while I’m not entirely sure, I really do feel something was a little different about her,” Greg answered, turning his view to the false sky in remembrance.

“When I first met her, I didn’t really think she was anything but a slightly taller, sort of sunburned lady with oddly-dyed hair and a weird dress. Not that there was anything wrong with that,” Greg laughed, “I didn’t even realize she was anything else but human until some day when I saw her again. She was as tall as a building and had some kind of spider-legged space vehicle parked in some field that I found while I was on tour. Now that was a surprise-!”

“-Dad, you’re not even answering the question!” Steven interrupted with a joking look.

“Ok, ok! All I’m trying to say is that she seemed to have a little bit of personality to her. Some kind of spark like she was an actual person and not just a parasitic rock mutant that wanted to hollow out planets,” Greg sighed turning his head back to Steven, “And she never even told me about all that until right before she had you.”

“And then she was gone, right?”

Greg paused, a sadness in his look. “Yeah,” he finished, “And then she was gone.” He smiled reassuringly back at Steven, “But hey, we have you now, right?”

“Yeah, but now you have to stay in this Human Zoo thing instead of going back to the place you used to live,” Steven argued, “And that’s my fault still, isn’t it?”

“Pff! Aww, it’s not that bad, Greg countered, waving a dismissive hand, “I don’t have to work, I can sit around and have fun and there’s always people to socialize with. They’re not the brightest and can’t hold a real conversation like you can, but it’s still a paradise if you don’t focus on the dehumanization part and the fact I can’t play my guitar anymore. But oh well.”

Suddenly, one of Greg’s earrings lit up as if on queue. “Wouldn’t you love to have a full-night’s sleep?” inquired a small, gentle voice.

The man scowled and turned his attention back to the sky with half-serious indignation, “Aw, can it, Little Voice! I’m tryin’a have a moment with my son, here! And you can’t make me do anything I don’t want either!”

Steven chuckled at this, “Well, maybe you should listen to it. Or at least I will. I’m a little better now.” Steven patted down a few leaves then laid himself down and stretched out comfortably.”

“Okay,” Greg finished, “Now let me know if you need to talk about anything else, all right?”

As Steven closed his eyes again, his dad remained sitting and stared up at the canopy in thought. Though not for long, as suddenly the false moon in the sky rotated with a whir, bringing forth a blazing ball of light akin to Earth’s sun.

“Now is time to awaken! Good morning, everyone!” cried the cheerful automated voice.

“Oh, come on! “Greg complained, “Who programmed this thing?”

“Well, at least we have time to talk more,” Steven offered, sitting back up into a kneel.

Before either of them could get another word in, the loud shuffle of an opened passageway some distance away from them, which was subsequently snapped close again, caught their attentions.

* * *

 

“Requesting the glorious Pink Diamond under the alias of ‘Steven’,” proclaimed a dignified voice, unmistakably one of a Pearl.

“Hey, look! There’s my Pearl!” cried the gem boy in question, pointing to the thin, pink gem that stood impatiently at the door.

“Your Pearl?” Greg questioned, “I thought I told you not to call her that, Steven. You can’t own people. Why don’t you just call her ‘Pearl’ for short.”

“I already told you, dad! There’s a lot of ‘em- just like any gem! That’d get confusing.”

“I know, Stu, but she’s probably different from the rest in some way. Everyone’s got to have a little personality if they can think for themselves.”

“Huh, really? Even though I have her gem does that mean I have a different personality from my mom, still?”

“Well, you’re your own kind of guy, Steven, gem, human, or neither. You don’t have to be tall or scary, or even boss people around just because you have a certain gem on you if you don’t want to- you can just be you,” Greg replied with some amusement.

“I guess I have no choice but to be me then,” Steven joked.

Greg pulled his son into a short hug, to which Steven obliged, then patted his back gently in dismissal. “Pearl over there looks a little impatient. Maybe you should go talk to her.”

“Aw, all right,” Steven said, pulling away. He stood from his kneel, turned around, and began walking through some foliage to meet the gem standing by the door. “See ya later, dad!” he called back.

“Ahem,” the pink gem cleared her throat gently as Steven neared her, “It has been asked, my Diamond, that you spend time outside the Zoo. Four Earth Days has been long enough.”

“But I live here, Pearl,” Steven argued, stopping before her, “Plus, my dad really is the only one who actually wants to talk to me for real around here anyway, and I hadn’t seen him for about fourteen whole Homeworld rotations,”

“If you so desire it, my Diamond, I will talk to you,” Pink Pearl replied, “Provided you tell me exactly what you want to hear.”

Steven sighed, his point seemingly made. “You can open the door, I guess, please,” he mumbled. Pink Pearl dipped her head respectively and obliged, tapping away at an invisible keypad, and Steven stepped through with her following close behind.

The door snapped shut behind him and Steven found himself staring glumly down the length of the stark hallway for a few quiet seconds. “So where do you wanna go?” he asked, turning to the Pearl standing only a small length behind him. “Anywhere you wish, my Diamond,” came the reply.

“Yeah, how about Earth, or else maybe some place not this boring. That would be nice,” Steven said with a hint of sarcastic tone turning back to the hallway ahead of him.

“I cannot argue with you, but might I remind you that under the order of the other Authority members Earth is off-limits for you until you regain your original form.”

Steven made a short whine with disappointment. “I’ve been everywhere in the Homeworld sector at least thirty times! There’s gotta be something new to see!”

“If I remember correctly, my Diamond, you have not recently visited the Harvesting Facility in Sector-”

“-But that’s a gem-killing machine! I don’t wanna see that!” Steven interrupted indignantly.

“As you wish,” said the Pearl evenly.

Steven’s ears perked at the sound of a voices in the distance and turned his head to the left to the faint clacking of heels on the shining floor of the Zoo’s hallways. “Look, there’s Holly Blue! Maybe I could talk to her,” he remarked, seeing a familiar blue shape making its way in his direction. A few Amethyst and Jasper soldiers stood in a group behind her, making conversation.

“What’s the use of it all? Ah! If only my Diamond would give me a little more input on what exactly their purpose-” she complained, only a few paces from the gem boy.

“Hey!” he called, jogging up to meet her, “What’s up, Holly?”

“Uh,” the gem stopped abruptly and stared down at Steven with bewildered eyes at the unusually informal inquiry, “I-I suppose I’m doing all right, my Diamond… for what I’ve been given to work with here.” She cast a critical glance back at the Quartz soldiers, who suddenly erupted into a unanimous shout for an unknown reason followed by laughter.

“Yeah,” Steven replied, fiddling with an earring and shifting his gaze to the floor, “I’m doing pretty good too. I’m just a little disappointed about something, though, and I already know it’s not allowed to by the rules, but-”

Steven breathed and exhaled in preparation for the question he figured that she would be at least somewhat opposed to.

“Why can’t I go to Earth, Holly Blue? I just kinda want to see it once. I won’t even stay very long! Just a peek to see what it’s like.”

The tall blue gem scrunched her face in disgust. “Ugh! The Earth! With all due respect, my Diamond, the Earth is simply not a place for one such as you! It’s filthy, unpolished, and overrun with those…creatures, so I’ve heard,” she answered, eyeing the door to the Zoo, “Even with that permanent form of yours that you’ve taken, you wouldn’t possibly feel at home there- oh no- it’s simply an awful place, I must tell you, since you don’t remember anything. Take a look at those Quartzes for an example! Oh my!” She clicked her tongue.

“Aw, they’re not so bad,” Steven replied, turning his head in the direction of the group, “They’re pretty cool, actually, once you talk to them,”

“Hmm,” Holly Blue replied, pursing her lip. She stood silent, critically gazing down at what she believed her former superior for a few seconds and her diamond-shaped pupils widening with disappointment. “I must be going now, my Diamond,” she announced at last, “I have my orders to attend to.”

She spun on her shining heels and strutted away from Steven down the polished floors. He watched her form become smaller in the distance and the Quartzes suddenly snap to attention upon her arrival, then loosen again as she rounded the corner. The gem boy was momentarily disappointed again, but at the sight of them, he began to formulate a new idea.

“Well, if she won’t tell me anything, maybe they will! They always got some good stories to share,” Steven thought aloud. “Dad sure knows a lot, but maybe I could get a second opinion to see what it’s really like.” He turned over his shoulder and found that Pink Pearl was just barely caught up with him now. “Come on, Pearl, let’s go talk to the Quartzes.”

* * *

 

Steven and the Peal walked quickly to the corner of the hallway where the group stood, smiling pantomiming, and slouching, something which he knew Holly Blue wouldn’t approve of.

“-And just like that- Boom! Right in the face! I didn’t even mean to do it that hard, but she still poofed right back into her gem!”

The group erupted into raucous laughter at once. “Twice! It h-happened to me twice!” yelped a Jasper, wheezing helplessly and bracing herself against the wall.

“Ay it’s the Hybrid!” shouted a dark-colored Amethyst whose gem was on her forehead, pointing down at the approaching gem boy, “An’ his Pearl! What up?”

“Hey! 8XF! All of you!” Steven exclaimed, stepping into the circle as the gems parted for him.

“We haven’t seen ya in a while!” piped up a golden-haired Jasper, “What do ya even do for all that time the boring old Zoo with all those humans?”

“Ah, I’ve mostly been talking to my dad, but Pearl came to get me and said I should get out more. The problem is, I don’t really know what to do with myself now.”

“Just do your gem purpose then! What you’re made to do! It’s easy because you’ll always have something to do then and know how to do it!” cried gravelly-voiced Jasper whose gem was on her chest.

A thick-browed Amethyst beside her punched her in the arm with a grunt, to which the Jasper winced “No, stupid! The Steven is part Diamond! You can’t tell a Diamond what to do!”

“Guys, guys!” Steven interrupted, waving his arms, “It’s ok! I’m not in charge at all! Plus, I’m nothing like Pink Diamond anyway- don’t worry.”

The Quartzes had all calmed down and were all staring at him intently. “Look, I just came here because I have a question,” Steven began. He met their eyes, a certain seriousness overtaking his features. “Since you’re all from Earth, I thought I’d ask if any of you can tell me what Earth is like. I can’t go there, but I kind of want to see it now.”

The Quartzes nodded and mumbled quietly to one another, an Amethyst with one gem for an eye and short hair finally stepping through to meet Steven. “I can tell you! It’s got a big glowing sun in the sky! And it’s blue!”

“What’s blue? The sun?” Steven questioned.

“No, the sky is! Kind of like in the Human Zoo!”

“Aw, well, I figured that. My dad already told me it looked similar.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” piped up another voice, and the golden-haired Jasper shoved her way to the side of the Amethyst and bent down closer to Steven’s level. “It’s got a huge, long orange canyon that twists around and you can’t see anything above it from the ground-level. At least that’s what the Kindergarten looks like. It’s all sandy and hot there!”

“No, it’s not!” interrupted an Amethyst in the back, “It’s cool and rocky and a really bo-oring gray color! There’s clouds everywhere!”

“Well, that’s not what I saw! Are none of you going to mention the fact that there’s tiny drops of something that falls constantly from the sky?” called an indeterminable other voice.

“It’s hot and sandy! There’s no clouds! There’s no nothin’!” the Jasper called back, standing up defensively.

“No, it’s not! It’s cold and dull and gray!”

“It’s wet! It’s like the sky is crying constantly!”

“Hot and sandy!”

“Cold and dull and gray! There’s no orange!”

“Yeah! I agree!”

“Wet!”

“Well that’s because you’re from a different Kindergarten, you stupid purple pebble!”

“Well, then how come we all saw something different if we’re all from the same place, huh? Or are you actually not from Earth?”

Steven’s eyes widened as all the Quartzes faced each other vehemently, their voices escalating until they were all talking into an indistinguishable squabble. He back away, palms out protectively until he was stopped by Pink Pearl’s gentle hand on his back.

“I believe it is in your best interest to leave now, my Diamond,” she advised, whispering into his ear in an effort to be heard over the sounds of quarrel, including the now-escalating shoves and grunts.

Steven nodded nervously, and paced away at once, the Pearl following close behind with her arm wrapped around his back until they turned the next corner and the sounds of the fighting Quartzes became only a whisper.

Soon enough, as the two slowed their pace in the middle of the new hallway, the panicked shape of Holly Blue came clacking down the hallway in her white heels. “How bad is it?” she cried, eyeing Steven as she approached him. “It’s bad,” Steven affirmed, watching the gem whiz past him without stopping once and listening to her caterwaul and bark her incomprehensible orders, despite being fairly far from the Quartzes at this point. He sighed with relief as she turned the corner and marched toward the other gems, leaving the Pearl and himself alone in the middle of the hall.

* * *

 

 

“I guess there’s nothing I can do but sit here,” Steven said, “Unless I can wait for a ship to come around. But I don’t think even that is worth it.” He sat down on to his loincloth, cross-legged in the middle of the floor, Pink Pearl kneeling down beside him with her hands politely folded in her lap.

“I wish at least someone could tell me a little more about the Earth. It’s like everyone expects me to know already, tells me things I already know, or thinks it’s bad for me to know anything else. So I don’t know anything about it and can’t even ask anyone but my dad, but even then I know he doesn’t know everything either!”

He turned to Pink Pearl. “What do you think I should do, Pearl? And don’t just give me some stupid ‘anything you want’ answer. I’m not even a real Diamond.” He brought his knees to his chin and wrapped his arms around them for a stable pose. “I’m just me. That’s all.”

“Yes, you are. You’re you,” the Pearl affirmed, placing a hand on his shoulder “And I believe you are a gem of great power as well but somehow you have not realized this yet.”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to be a Diamond. I know that. But I’m Steven instead, and nobody really knows what to do with Steven. They all just want Pink Diamond back. Even my dad, to some degree. I just know it.”

“I cannot say anything more about that, I’m afraid. I am only a Pearl and I’m meant for your personal entertainment and comfort and I don’t wish to make you feel any worse, my Diamond.”

“Well, I guess that makes two of us then. You’re a Pearl and basically supposed to go with everyone else’s expectations and then there’s me with…trying to go along with what everyone wants too, except unlike you, I can’t. Unlike you-unlike any gem- I have no purpose.”

There was no answer to this and the two remained silent for a while, contemplating.

The Pearl drew her hand from Steven’s shoulder, her eyes focusing far off into the distance. “I believe you have said that before, my Diamond. A very long time ago. But you’ve already found your answer and the answer is the way you are now.”

Steven shifted his position to the same comfortable kneel as the Pearl. “I don’t really know what that means, but I know you’re trying to help at least,” he replied, “And I really don’t think you’re just a Pearl. I think you’re a good person with a lot of thoughts, just like my dad said.”

The Pearl never tore her eyes away from the space that her mind now belonged to, but Steven watched her face intently. He could see a glimmer of thought in her eyes, her mouth twitching once as if in a shocking realization. She smoothed back her pink mane of hair then allowed herself to relax. “Thank you,” came her quiet voice at last.

It was then that Steven could pick out the stringent voice of Holly Blue Agate, growing with each second. “Come on, come on! Every one of you, hurry up! Back to your containment area! This is urgent! Oh, how urgent! How awful! Not one Diamond, but two Diamonds are here to visit the Hybrid! Again! They’re on their way right now and you can’t bother with a bit more dignity you poorly-formed concentrations of dirt?”

“The Diamonds?” Steven questioned. At once, he and Pink Pearl stood hastily and faced the incoming crowd of Quartzes. The two pressed themselves against the wall, watching the leader and her crowd rumble down the hall past them, the aforementioned group not speaking once while Holly Blue continued to shout her slew of insults.

A short time after the crowd passed, Steven peeled himself away from the wall.

“The Diamonds? Right now? No! I know they hate me! Yellow almost crushed me to death last time trying to get my gem out!” he panicked.

“I am sure it was in her best intentions and she didn’t know any better because it appealed to her highly logical and practical nature. Do not fret, my Diamond, as she is a fellow member of the Great Diamond Authority, even if she does not understand your new form yet.”

“I know, I know,” Steven whined, pressing a palm to his forehead, “At least Blue can talk her out of it and White scares her enough to get her to stop, but all of them are still bad.”

“Perhaps this time will be different, though I am no Sapphire.”

Steven faced the doorway at the end of the hall. “Well, I guess I could give them the benefit of the doubt. The other times weren’t nearly as bad. But they better not accidentally kill me this time.”

The gem boy raised his head higher, attempting to feel more confident, but he felt his heart sink with a certain sense of impending doom. The Diamonds were unpredictable, powerful, and incredibly terrifying, especially when they were emotional. And of course, they were always a bit more on edge while he was in their presence.

“I wonder who’s gonna be there,” he thought aloud, “White? Yellow? Blue? Whoever they are, I can take ‘em.”

Steven and Pink Pearl began their long trek down the lesser used, yet familiar course of Pink Diamond’s old room. Steven’s eyes were glued to the ceiling as the pair neared the end of a small, pink passageway.

“Hey!” he exclaimed as they took a turn into the main hall, watching as the height of the ceiling suddenly increased by tenfold, “I think we made it!”

Steven didn’t have time to celebrate his intuition long before he heard the distinct sound of heels clicking down the hall, though sounding several times too large and coming much too fast to be just Holly Blue.

“W-Woah!” Steven yelped, eyes wide and scrambling back into the entrance of the smaller hallway just in time to avoid a boot nearly three times the size of himself. Shortly behind it came the ruffle of a deep blue dress with barely any footsteps to be heard beneath the light-projected fabric.

“We are not simply wasting our time here, are we? Has this negotiation strategy ever been any use after she’s already lost herself to that human creature?” inquired a bold and worldly tone.

“But we have to try!” argued a gentler, more reserved voice, “I am not willing to lose her to some inferior form! Perhaps if we talk more carefully to her, we can appeal to her! You must be more patient than you have been before, Yellow, as she’s still a fairly young gem and does not quite understand the consequences of her actions yet. If need be, I will allow you to use force again, but not yet.”

A loud sigh swept the hallway and the footsteps stopped. “Pearl, open the door,” the more commanding gem’s voice boomed, and the grate of an opened chamber resounded though the halls. “Sooner or later, Blue, I know we can coax her out of it. Though I am not willing to try force again, mind you, as it caused much more distress in her than her than what seemed beneficial. We can go about this a different way, I suppose,” the voice continued, “And do leave the door open, Pearl, that way she can find us here. And both of you, stay there, excepting Pink Diamond’s Pearl if she brings her, as she seems more knowledgeable than her owner now, I’m afraid.”

The sounds of footsteps returned, yet became muted, presumably from entering the opened room, and the voices hushed to a lower tone that Steven no longer cared to listen for. 

“Blue! And Yellow!” Steven exclaimed in a strained whisper tone, “Is my life trying to become my worst nightmares right now? On one hand you have a gem most likely to crush me to death with her fist and on the other you have a gem most likely to crush me to death under a bunch of questions I can’t even answer!”

Steven inhaled and exhaled, trying to gain back some composure. “But I’ll be fine. I know I’ll be fine. I’ll just talk to them, right? I guess I’m sort of a Diamond too, in a way. I have her gem.”

Steven reached a hand under his purple top covering and polished the diamond-shaped pink gem on his belly with his fingers as a gesture for good luck.

“All right, let’s do this,” he mumbled under his breath, shoulders squared and marching out into the polished, pink-decorated hallway, “Big, scary gem-ladies, here we come.”

* * *

 

Before Steven could think of a way to introduce himself, he found his bare feet at the very entrance of Pink Diamond’s private lounge, the looming shapes of two representatives of the Authority before him rivaling the ceiling-high pillars, their glittering, diamond-pupiled eyes seeming to bore straight into him. Yellow Diamond stood in an official pose, hands tucked behind her back with the assertion of her power, as commanding as the uniform-like decorations she wore, while blue crossed her hands before her politely, mysterious and as reserved as her long, flowing dark dress, yet Steven could still sense the authority she carried.

“Uh,” the gem boy squeaked waving a weak hand in greeting, “H-hi there, guys.”

Not even the reassuring hand on his shoulder from Pink Pearl could ease his fears in the present moment as the two enormous gem leaders did not reply, much less even move from their positions.

“Pink,” came Yellow Diamond’s voice at last, as the gem waved away a few stray bubbles and took a seat on the cushion that lay in the middle of the room, crossing her legs comfortably, “Do come in.”

Steve did so without hesitation, his arms held stiff to his sides, stopping several paces away from the Diamonds and planting his feet firmly, his neck craned up to stare at them, incapable moving his gaze even an inch lower out of sheer terror. The door boomed shut behind him, sending the quite unwelcoming message that he was going to be trapped here for however long they deemed fit.

“Closer,” Yellow Diamond instructed, her tone gentler yet still forceful.

Steven looked behind him and found that Pink Pearl was stationed at the door, arms folded politely to her chest, yet a sympathetic look remained in her eyes.

Reluctantly, he turned back to face Yellow Diamond and walked further until he was nearly to her boot, forcing himself to relax in his posture as cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck.

Blue Diamond sat down carefully on the other side of the cushion from where Yellow Diamond was. Eyes on Steven, she lifted her chin in curiosity, yet her expression was mostly unreadable and she kept silent in the uncomfortable pause.

“Having such a small form does not become you at all, though perhaps I can ease a few of our differences here,” Yellow Diamond began, leaning over and extending a gloved hand, but was soon interrupted by Blue Diamond. “No, allow me,” the blue leader offered, “I don’t think she has forgotten the last time.”

Yellow Diamond nodded and retracted her hand, her expression narrowing thoughtfully at the gem boy standing before her.

Blue Diamond extended her fingers with a beckoning motion down to the ground level. Seeming that he had no choice but to obey, Steven climbed into her palm, biting his lip to prevent a whimper as the Diamond lifted her hand carefully and he found himself dropped into her lap, her enormous blue face in full view. “It certainly is an interesting form, I must say, though I still don’t understand why she would choose this one-”

“-I’ll do most of the questioning this time, Blue,” Yellow Diamond proposed.

“As you wish,” Blue Diamond replied, then shifted her position as Yellow seated herself closer, the yellow leader’s face intimately filling another portion of Steven’s view as she pressed her form against the other gem’s.

“It’s not been long at all since we have last seen you, Pink, but we do have a few more questions for you simply because we do not quite understand your unusual form yet,” Yellow Diamond started, “And though we do not particularly care for it and we find it highly impractical, I suppose we will have to learn to tolerate it until you change your mind.”

Blue Diamond shifted her gaze to the other Diamond beside her with a short glare of warning for the acerbic turn in her tone near the end of her statement.

“But provided you can explain your motivations, perhaps we will be more forgiving in the meantime,” Yellow added.

Steven’s mouth hung open, transfixed by the two concerned, highly focused stares of the Authority, their entire bodies seeming to be frozen in anticipation of his response, except for the movements of their bold-colored eyes, examining every detail of him. His mind worked feverishly to predict Yellow Diamond’s next questions and find a few pre-conceived answers, yet he felt that he could not concentrate in the slightest due to how incredibly small he felt compared to them.

“Do you suppose she does truly understand what we are saying?” Yellow Diamond began testily, “Or has the ridiculous form completely taken over her pro-?”

“Shh!” Blue Diamond hissed, “I believe she is quite wary of us. Many lower gems are, and for good reason, and I do not believe she quite remembers being one of us yet. Be patient.”

Yellow Diamond furrowed her visage momentarily before easing into a more calm look, though by the proximity of her face, Steven could determine how much she was fighting her own impatience.

“I hear that you no longer enjoy being referred to as Pink Diamond. Is this true?”

“Uh,” Steven began, his voice shaking, “S-Steven. Steven Pink Universe. That’s my name. Because I don’t really think I’m much like my mom and I’m just myself. A different person, I guess.”

Yellow Diamond raised a brow, unsatisfied.

“My Mom? Who or what is this My Mom and what does this have to do with anything?”

“My mom is…my mom is complicated. I guess it’s what you call something, the way some gem might call you ‘my Diamond’. Like, humans have ‘moms’ and ‘dads’ and stuff but gems don’t. Pink Diamond was my mom, though. Which means she’s a sort of a part of me, but not really, because I’m separate.”

At Yellow Diamond’s speechless stare, Steven felt his shoulders raise with tension and he sunk into his posture with embarrassment. Apparently, his answer’s wording wasn’t quite sufficient enough. 

Blue Diamond’s gaze widened and her fingers passively touched her lips in some shock.

“Is this some sort of fusion? Then where is the other gem?” she cried.

“Are you a fusion?” Yellow Diamond echoed with a hint of sternness in her tone.

“No,” Steven answered, “I-I’m not a fusion because humans can’t fuse. Pink Diamond is… well, was a gem, but my dad is a human. So I’m part gem and part human. Therefore I’m Steven. I’m not really my dad or even my mom, though I do have her gem.” 

“But that doesn’t make any sense! How can an entirely new form be created from something that is not a gem yet have a gemstone?”

“I don’t even know how it happened, really! My dad didn’t really tell me much about the actual event, but I do know Pink Diamond sort of…gave up her form for me, so the rest of me is human, just like my dad.” 

Yellow Diamond’s mask of calm momentarily faltered, her eyes sparkling unusually as if trying to hide the onset of tears.

“Gave up…gave up her form. Yet she cannot reform because the human is in the way!” Yellow Diamond reasoned, turning her head to Blue Diamond, “It acts as a barrier, much like these bubbles.” The Diamond gestured to the bubbled Rose Quartz gems that hung idly in the air. She added in a lower tone, gritting her teeth “Yet we cannot take her gem, as we attempted last time, without harming the Steven Pink Universe, and perhaps then, she would never reform out of spite. And we cannot risk that.”

She turned her attention to Steven once more, her lips suddenly drawn back into a snarl.

“Pink Diamond! Can you hear us at all through the Steven? Or has it completely isolated you? Are you just gone? Trapping yourself away from your responsibilities as a Diamond?” she questioned, her tone escalating into something more of a demand than an inquiry.

“Yellow, please-”

“Let it answer first! Let her! Whatever answers!” the Diamond snapped.

Steven stayed silent, frozen, and unable to even reply for a few moments after the Diamond’s outburst. His eyes shifted to the ground, as if already ashamed by what he had not yet told her.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t even really know about myself honestly. Who I really am past the fact that I’m just…myself. I don’t know how much Steven I am or how much of Pink Diamond I am. I can’t answer for her and whether or not she’s listening right now through me as a part of me I’d say that…” he paused, glancing behind himself momentarily to the waiting Pink Pearl, her mouth open slightly in a perplexed ‘o’, and her eyes wide and nervous on his behalf, “I’d say that she purposefully did this. She made a choice to give up her form and maybe be a little part human for a while. And I’m pretty happy with myself, I guess. And… maybe that means she’s happy with herself too.”

Steven squeezed his eyes shut hastily at his conclusion, anticipating the crushing blow of Yellow Diamond’s rage, every bone in his human body crushed by the power of her slipping emotional control.

He felt no force come for him; not a single touch of any kind. He straightened his posture from his hunch and opened his eyes carefully, then slowly brought his attention back to the faces of the Diamonds.

He almost gasped aloud when he saw the state of Yellow Diamond, her millennia-old eyes as wide and confounded as if she was a newly-formed gem that had experienced a stunning realization about the world, sparkling with subtle tears she could not bring herself to blink away for the sake of embarrassment. 

Blue Diamond hastily grabbed her arm in reassurance. “Yellow,” she urged, her more neutral expression going wider, “I’ll question now if this is too hard for you.”

“No!” Yellow attempted to bark, but her voice was husky and too quiet to have an ounce of the force she intended. She gnashed her teeth in frustration as she pulled her arm away from Blue’s grip and drew her glove across her face to rid it of the tears she despised. The room hung in a short but painful silence and Steven could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as if an approaching storm was charging the air.

“Why did you do it, Pink? Why?” Blue Diamond insisted. Her questions were short, her calm, reserved manner almost completely removed for the sake of the other’s affected emotions. Her blue irises were as icy as the sudden chill that came over the room, easing the static discharge and sending Steven’s breath into a cloud, before gradually returning to normal.

“I don’t know!”

“You don’t know? Well, then what do you know about Pink Diamond?”

“Sh-she was the colonizer of Earth! That was gonna be her first colony and you guys meant it for her! But she liked the Earth and found a human there, which was my dad, and I-I don’t know! I don’t know the rest! I don’t think I’m even her anymore and I’m sorry!”

“She liked the Earth too much, is what it is!” Yellow barked, her voice unstable and strained, “She stopped caring for the resources! The potential! Her own sense of achievement! She’s no better than the Rose Quartz that nearly ruined our supply with her pointless war! The ‘nature’ there, whatever that is! The ‘animals’! The ‘humans’! The filthy creatures that roam her Zoo!”

“Yellow-!”

“She would rather become a part of the insubordinate, traitorous rebellion than would serve in her own Authority if given the chance, is what it is! And do know what we do with traitors, Steven Pink Universe?”

“Yellow, stop it-!”

“We shatter them! Yet we gave you a chance! You’re a new gem and a Diamond, so of course you get another chance, despite not even understanding your own purp-!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Blue Diamond’s voice rang through the chamber at a volume and intensity that rivaled even the more belligerent Yellow Diamond. The room’s subdued pink was bathed in a near-blinding flash of blue light, leaving in its wake a bitter cold that momentarily froze Yellow Diamond’s furious features in place, her lips drawn back into a motionless grimace a mere few feet away from Steven’s own petrified look.

* * *

  

The ice broke and the blue faded, allowing for the last bit of Yellow Diamond’s anger to ring out, but soon she found herself completely subdued, unable to call forth any increment of her former wrath. She was the center of attention, yet unlike many times before, it was not a positive kind. A barely-noticeable yet slightly darker yellow tinged her cheeks, but the giant ducked away before Steven could determine anything more and moved her spot a few yards from Blue Diamond and the aforementioned Pink Diamond-Hybrid.

“Perhaps you can continue the questioning,” she said hastily, “I require time to reflect on this.”

Blue Diamond turned to Steven without another word to Yellow.

“A gem’s form can last indefinitely until it is returned to one’s gemstone or shattered. How long does… a human form last?” she asked him quietly.

Steven cast a glance at Yellow Diamond. The leader was hunched over, her arms folded across her lap, her eyes seeming to focus on nothing at all.

“Well,” he said at last, gently, “It depends, really. Humans only have one form, I guess, and once it’s damaged beyond repair, you…you’re gone. Unless you believe in something else, of course, but that’s generally how it works in the physical world. It can be any time, really. Unless you’re really lucky and then that’s only around a hundred years at most.”

“A hundred years,” Blue Diamond echoed.

“I mean, even though I’m part-gem, I’m probably only going to live for that long anyway if I age normally. But that’s okay, honestly. I’ll do anything that me, as Steven, does, and I’ll be okay with it.”

Blue Diamond paused, as if taking an extra effort this time to formulate a new question.

“What is the purpose of a Diamond, Steven Pink Universe?”

“A Diamond is…you’re…you’re like a leader, I guess. You have to be there for others’ problems and take care of people, but you also have to go around conquering stuff. Destroying planets, sucking the life out of everything just to keep you gem alien species going.”

“And do you believe Pink Diamond fulfilled her role?”

“Well, maybe not all the way. I mean, she didn’t really conquer anything mostly because…” Steven scratched his head in thought, “…maybe because she didn’t want to and didn’t like the consequences of it. Or else maybe she just didn’t like being told what to do so she tried to do her own thing so she wouldn’t have-”

Blue Diamond held up a hand with a nod and Steven let the last of his sentence die on his tongue.

“Yellow,” she called, “I think we have gathered all the information we need to understand the Steven.”

Yellow Diamond lifted her head. Despite being a gem who could modify her appearance in any way she desired, Steven couldn’t help but notice unlike the more innocent look that overcame her only a few minutes prior, her face now looked as old and tired as the stars themselves. Which was likely true.

“Do you?”

Her tone suggested nothing. Not the slightest bit of anger, no hint of command, nor scathing sarcasm. It was broken and hollow, and unlike anything that Steven had ever heard from her.

“I understand that you do not like this very much and neither do I, but I have begun to understand the purpose of this Steven a little more,” Blue explained gently, “The Steven was made so that Pink Diamond could exist outside of her purpose momentarily to exist for a different purpose. Humans are only temporary, but the Steven is enjoying being itself. And Pink wants to as well, as being a part of the Steven.”

Blue Diamond sighed, her face nearing the gem boy again as she bent to examine him.

“I do not think it is harmful for Pink Diamond. She will learn in time. And if she does not, perhaps we will deal with that later with a minor punishment or come to a compromise. But she is happy as the Steven now and I believe she should exist in this form for as long as it lasts, as impractical as you might find it now. And perhaps as a way to heal her mind, we should keep the Steven in a place it can enjoy itself, yet where we can monitor it.”

Yellow Diamond rose from her seat, walked slowly, and sat down beside the other Diamond, her attention on Steven once more.

“I’m afraid I don’t fully understand it. And I’m afraid that I will not for a long time,” Yellow spoke gravely, “But I understand enough to trust your judgement, Blue.”

Steven tried not to recoil as Yellow Diamond leaned her visage closer to him in observation.

“Where do you feel you would be the most satisfied, Pink?” she inquired faintly.

Steven bit his tongue, the reply already formulating before he could stop it. He thought of the other gems’ reactions of disgust and the fact that it had twice shown itself as controversial, but the more he dismissed it, the more the emptiness of disappointment began to replace his sense of hope. Steven took a deep breath then exhaled in self-reassurance. If he had any chance in his entire life, it would be now.

“I…I want to go to Earth. I know you might not like it but, well, as ‘the Steven’ I’ve never really been there. And my dad misses it too. I just feel like maybe I’d fit in better there.”

He could tell by the way Yellow Diamond chewed her lip that his request did not settle well with her, but she made no immediate comment.

“Then I suppose it can be arranged,” came the response, “under two conditions.”

Yellow gave Blue Diamond a hinting, sort of pleading look, to which Blue nodded in some unknown agreement.

“The first is that you will be accommodated by a few adequate soldiers for your own safety and you must report to us every Earth week of your findings. The second is…” Yellow Diamond paused thoughtfully. “Do return to us soon, Pink. We believe you will make a great leader some day, regardless of what you may have gotten yourself into.”

Suddenly, Yellow Diamond reached a hand in Steven’s direction, to which he had to bite his tongue again, this time to prevent himself from yelping out in fear. The uncomfortable pressure of a finger trying to be gentle, yet was still a bit rough, mussed his mane of hair in what he believed was meant to be an affectionate gesture. 

Then the finger trailed away and Yellow Diamond stood, smoothing out the bottom of her coat in an orderly fashion and her thundering heels marched to the door. “I believe we are finished, Pearl.” Pink Pearl nodded politely in response, then sent the door sliding open with a few presses on a keypad.

It wasn’t long before the familiar caterwaul of the Zoo’s resident Agate sounded into the serenity of the pink room only a mere second after the door opened.

“AH! My Diamonds! Luminous, lustrous, glorious! Oh, but we are so privileged to bask in your radiances that you have once again brought to us!”

Though still tense from the conversation and not yet used to his own freedom, Steven couldn’t help but smirk as Blue Diamond rumbled out a quiet sigh of resignation at the entrance of Holly Blue. She set a hand down in her lap, which Steven climbed into gratefully, and transported him down to the hem of her dress. His feet planted on safe ground and Steven began a jog to meet up with Pink Pearl near the door, letting his relief wash over him out of the presence of the Diamonds.

“But I must tell you!” wailed Holly Blue, “Oh, but you must have been waiting so long, and with deepest apologies, the Hybrid is nowhere to be found! We have looked everywhere yet we cannot-”

“It is taken care of, Agate,” Yellow spoke flatly, stepping out of the room and beginning an unworried stride down the hall.

It was then that Steven slowed his run as he reached the exit and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

“Pearl!” he exclaimed, upon arriving, “You saved me! You told me all that, but I think I get it now!” He threw his arms around her lower torso in a hug, which was all he could reach. “I think my purpose is just to be me and be happy.”

Pink Pearl, though too surprised to move for a second, wrapped one arm around him to mirror the unfamiliar action, then patted him gently on the back in hopes of dispersing it.

“Yes, yes, my Diamond, if you believe so.”

As Steven let go of Pink Pearl, he found Holly Blue waiting in his vicinity and looking quite impatient. “Couldn’t you have at least told us you were already there-?” the Agate snapped.

Despite the harsh question that betrayed a fairly cross mood that would certainly be worsened by what Steven was about to tell her, the gem boy couldn’t help but spill the latest events.

“-I get to go to Earth, Holly Blue!” cried Steven, an excitement coming over him and a grin creeping across his face, “They said I can go to Earth!”

“The Earth! Well, why, I never! For what, as a punishment? I can promise that nothing good can possibly come from th-”

“-I believe we have already made our decision, Holly Blue,” interrupted a voice from above. The fabric of Blue Diamond’s dress whisked gracefully by them, then drew away as the ruler made her exit.

Holly Blue’s eyes seemed to bulge, utterly shocked by her own infraction. “Wait! My Diamond! Lustrous Blue! It seems I’ve had a misunderstanding-”

The Agate rushed through the open door in pursuit, the sound of her chatty, strident voice filling the halls in one-sided conversation and flattery until even the sound of Yellow Diamond’s footsteps was no longer audible.

Steven sighed and turned to Pink Pearl.

“I think I’ve had enough hard, existential questioning for one day. Should I just…try and find something fun, maybe? Can I talk to my dad about stuff back at the Zoo? Tell me what you actually think. No silly, ambiguous answers, please.”

The Pearl did not answer immediately, but Steven could see that she was truly mulling it over from the glimmer of thought in her eyes. For once, the Pearl looked as if she was formulating something outside of a script, and it filled Steven with a certain sense of hope. At last she answered him, this time in a completely honest tone without any more hesitation.

“You look as if your form will falter any minute, my Diamond. I think you should ‘rest’.”

“Yeah,” Steven chuckled weakly, realizing his own exhaustion, “Good idea.”


End file.
